wintersgills

they have done it see below

phoenixinoz

Saddam was undoubtedly a ruthless dictator....however I'm not sure what anyone gains from him being dead.

Now he'll be revered as a martyr and no doubt replaced by another lunatic dictator.

kiwi_child

His execution is mainly a PR job for the incumbent Iraqi govt, but many will rejoice over it. He never thought Iraq would be invaded, so he remained defiant. Let's not forget it was the US that built him up and put him on a pedestal becasue of their concerns at the time over Iran's leader Koheminy. Interesting to to note that the US supported the Shah or Iran previously and Pinochet's overthrow of a democratically elected government there.

US foreign policy has a lot to answer for at times.

As for another lunatic dictator/leader, you coudl be right on the money there. There were allegations that the current Iraqi PM had executed people without any legal process, at the back of a police station in Baghdad. Just pulled out a pistol and shot them in the head.

sassenach

only three more to go and the world will be a peace .

kiwi_child

Let me guess... Blair, Bush and Howard

phoenixinoz

Yep, Saddam was a looney alright but like you say, he played a small pawn in a very big chess game. USA have got a lot to answer for. If there's anything good come out of recent events in the East and the subsequent intervention of the west, it is that we should never have interferred in other people's business.

Politics the world over is the root of all evil. They all piss in the same rancid pot.

In one way or another the good people of the world get told what to do by dictators of one sort or another. It's just some are more obvious than others.

Dried Graze

You can't be serious. Just think about your statement for a moment and imagine the world where this is the policy of nations.

JoanMC

It is difficult to sit on the fence but how often has history demonstrated that we don't have a real clue about what goes on behind closed doors with these guy's and their spin doctors until further down the road when the dust has settled..We just exchange one set of problems for another - If the Bush's and the Blair's of this world are to be the police - who polices them?..Might is right and all that stuff...

Heerosheeema Heerosheeema all fall down..

Vash the Stampede

Hussein was never a loony; he was cunning, ruthless and vain.

Having successfully gambled against the weakness of the UN and the inconsistency of US and UK foreign policy for more than a decade, he finally overplayed his hand and suffered the consequences.

I hope this event brings some closure to the tens of thousands who suffered under his despotic regime - particularly those related to the 5,000 villagers gassed to death at Halabja, and the 10,000 permanently maimed, blinded or otherwise damaged by the same event.

If people believe that Iraq should be a free state, they must accept that a free Iraq will occasionally make unpopular decisions.

Hussein was the architect of his own destiny; the Iraqi people should at least be afforded the same privilege.

sassenach

your on the money kiwi

sassenach

excellent post ,the yanks aint going to calm iraq down and neither will the brits or aussies .The Arabs dont understand the notion of democracy ,i say pull out and leave them to it .We should never have gone in the first place it was all lies ,typical politicians playing with young men and womens lives in our defence forces while they are at home sucking d--k and feeding out of the govermental trough .

phoenixinoz

Spot on.

phoenixinoz

OK. So following your logic who shall we go for next?

The reality of life is that crackpots exist the world over and we [as in the west] are no better with our dirty politics, fighting selective wars.

Remind me.....Saddam was overthrown as he had weapons of mass destruction didn't he?

He was a despot, no doubt about it. But since he was overthrown things have got worse, not better. And in the meantime foreign forces and civilians are losing lives, respect for the west has diminished and things are less stable than before.

Great move

phoenixinoz

And therin lies the problem.

The West tries to impose the same values onto the East.

When will the West ever get it into their thick heads that the East is very, very different and governs with a different set of laws and rules based on the Koran and its teachings and values, which they prefer.

Utopia is that the whole world has the same rules and values.

Reality is this will never be the case.

JoanMC

Yes and perhaps we wouldn't be so concerned if the Middle east didn't have the oil?...we won't even go into the plight of the "Real Americans (Redman) when their land was nicked by force from under their feet..

I watched a repeat of Lawrence of Arabia the other night...Interesting how we, the British - and the French were trying to carve up the middle east between us with little or no thought to the indigenous people....could make one curious as to whether Lawrence really did die in a motorcycle accident..

Oops Sorry,,wandering a bit here...